Jack, DeGale Share A Common Past On The Road To Unification

by Jake Donovan

With the time it took to make this fight happen and the number of common opponents they’ve had in the ring along the way, you can say that Badou Jack and James DeGale were always destined to one day meet in the ring.

They would say the same, although perhaps for entirely different reasons.

Whatever led to this point, the pair of super middleweight titlists finally get to square off in their long awaited unification bout. The best matchup that the division has seen perhaps since Andre Ward outpointed Carl Froch in the finals of Showtime’s Super Six super middleweight tournament takes place Saturday evening at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Fittingly, Showtime is on hand to televise this one as well, having been on board for each of their last two bouts and – in the case of Jack – several more in the past.

The clash is viewed as a 50/50 matchup and for good reason. At worst, Jack and DeGale represent two of the three best super middleweights in the world. An argument is there to be made that it’s the two very best if you believe both to be superior to undefeated titlist Gilberto Ramirez, who won a belt last April but has since been out of the ring due to injury.

As for who is better between the two, Saturday night will ultimately decide it. Discussion on the topic has already taken place largely based on their own separate past accomplishments but also in part to performances turned in versus their four common opponents. 

Each of the four – former champion Lucian Bute, three-time title challenger George Groves and fringe contenders Rogelio ‘Porky’ Medina and Marco Antonio Periban – are credible enough to where Jack and DeGale’s respective performances versus the quarter is worth measuring up. At the same time, it ultimately has nothing to do with how Saturday’s headliner plays out.

For example, DeGale (23-1, 14KOs) suffered his lone career loss versus Groves, dropping a hotly contended 12-round majority decision in May ’11 back when both were rising prospects.

The 30-year old southpaw has since won 13 straight, including a 12-round nod over Andre Dirrell in May ’15 for his first career major title. The feat came with a piece of history as well, becoming the first-ever Olympic Gold medalist for Great Britain (2008 Beijing Olympics) to go on and win a world title in the pro ranks (Lennox Lewis accomplished the same, but represented Canada in his Gold medal winning effort in 1998).

“[For the] George Groves [fight] I was a nine fight novice,” DeGale notes [Writer’s note: DeGale was actually 10-0 at the time, although the same point applies – JD]. “I was immature, I was young, I wasn't experience, I was terrible, it was all wrong. And I was still a close draw I should have won that.

“Badou Jack boxed well in that [Sept. ‘15] fight and once again that was a close fight with him like literally very close because it went either way, but he won.”

To his credit, Jack doesn’t invest much stock in his triumph in the face of DeGale’s lone defeat.

“No like it's not gonna help me in this fight, I think that was like five, six years ago since they fought,” points out Jack (20-1-2, 12KOs), whose comparison matchups have all come in the span of his past eight fights. “So you can't really compare it and that was a close fight.

“I haven't really seen (Groves-DeGale) like that but a lot of people have said that it could've gone either way. James could have won the fight.”

Both should also have clear-cut wins over Bute, but suspect judging and subsequent drug test results have otherwise muddied the waters.

DeGale has hit the road for each of his past three starts – four by the time the opening bell sounds for this bout – including his title-winning effort over Andre Dirrell in May ’15. His first defense took place in the lion’s den, marching to Quebec City to take on Bute, a former long-reigning super middleweight titlist whom DeGale edged over 12 rounds in their Nov. ’15 Showtime-televised headliner.

At the time, Bute was admired for being able to turn back the clock even in coming up short on the scorecards. In the aftermath of his 12-round draw versus Jack last April, however, his pair of performances versus both is now cast in an entirely different light. The Romanian-born, Canada-based boxer was popped for traces of Ostarine in his system versus Jack, for which he received a soft suspension and fine.

Even in having to cheat to win, it was still widely believed that Jack deserved the victory with room to spare.
 
“My fight with Bute wasn't a draw, plus he was on steroids when we fought,” Jack reflects on his most recent bout, which came on the same card as DeGale’s last performance, a close 12-round win over Medina in a hard-fought battle. “So, I mean Bute said it himself that my fight with him was one I won clearly.”

DeGale also won close but clear -  but questions just how clean was the opponent in front of him.

“[W]hen I boxed Bute -- yes -- I absolutely battered him for six rounds. Battered him - well I battered him for the whole fight yes,” DeGale insists. “Badou Jack boxed Lucian Bute and it came out he was on drugs. Do you really think Lucian Bute wasn't on performing enhancing drugs when he boxed me? Of course he was, don't be stupid.

“Did you see the way he finished the fight? Did you see how strong he was? Had a lot -- listen -- any fighter fatigues in a 12 round fight. Did you see how strong he finished it? Constantly on me - well Badou Jack knows but I absolutely battered Lucian Bute right?”

As for their respective performances versus Periban and Medina, they each came at different times and with significantly varying stakes.

Jack fought Periban to a controversial 12-round draw in their June ’13 clash at this very venue, in a bout where the winner was to be groomed for a future title shot. Periban marched to England some 17 months later, where he was dispatched in three rounds by DeGale in what was largely a stay-busy fight for the Brit while awaiting a title opportunity of his own.

Going the other way, Jack battered Medina inside of six rounds in their Dec. ’13 clash, at a time when Medina was in the opponent phase of his career and Jack was an unbeaten prospect (he would suffer his lone career loss one fight later, a shocking 1st round knockout at the hands of Derek Edwards).

By the time Medina fell into the title fight with DeGale last April, he’d already turned around his career and had enlisted the services of infamous strength and conditioning coach Angel ‘Memo’ Heredia. It was a far different fighter, one whom DeGale admittedly underestimated and struggled to fend off for 12 rounds before escaping with  a close decision win.

“Medina, I knocked him out but you can say Medina probably was in better shape when he fought DeGale because he probably had a longer time to prepare because it was a title fight,” Jack concedes. “Periban maybe -- yes -- he was in better shape for my fight. That was also a controversial draw.

“That's why it's an interesting fight. We've got a lot of common opponents. But come fight night it'll be a brand-new fight.”

DeGale ultimately agrees, even if taking the scenic route to get to that point.

“[Jack] had life and death with Periban. I knocked him out in three rounds,” DeGale makes sure to highlight. “Okay, he could say he wasn't in good shape. It don't matter, I still hit him, I still dropped and he got knocked out and he had life and death.

“Medina - oh man that guy literally before I went in I was like this guy shouldn't even last four rounds with me. But I nearly come unstuck because he was fit and he pushed me. He was strong, he was big, so yes, styles make fights. As Badou Jack says next week when we get in there it's me and him. The best fighting the best, whoever comes out is the champ. That's it. Put ‘em up.”

Whatever took place in the past helped lead to this point. Now that they’ve arrived, all that matters is what takes place once the opening bell sounds and it’s just the two of them in the ring.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2